BRM was founded by Raymond Mays, whose pre-war ERA hillclimb cars had given him prestige and access to technical documentation from the dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union programs. Mays and engineer Peter Berthon conceived an all-British grand prix car as a national prestige project, initially financed through a trust fund backed by British industry. Alfred Owen of the Rubery Owen group eventually took over the team entirely after other backers withdrew.
The first BRM engine was an extremely ambitious 1.5-litre supercharged V16, designed for the immediate post-war formula. Rolls-Royce was contracted to produce centrifugal superchargers. The design concept was novel and development was slow; the engine did not run until June 1949. When it fired, it was outstandingly powerful but delivered its output over a narrow RPM band, which caused sudden wheelspin on the narrow tyres of the era and made the car difficult to drive. The V16 won its first two starts at Goodwood in September 1950, driven by Reg Parnell, but proved persistently unreliable and difficult to develop. When the FIA announced a new 2.5-litre formula for 1954, the V16 project was rendered obsolete before its problems were solved.
BRM's next car, the Type 25, used an extremely over-square 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine that arrived late and took years to develop competitively. It did not win a race until the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix. As rear-engined Coopers began to dominate, BRM adapted quickly with a rear-engined car but again the engine was not ready at the start of a new formula.
For the 1.5-litre formula introduced in 1961, BRM produced a V8 designed by Peter Berthon and Aubrey Woods. Engineer Tony Rudd, who had been with BRM since 1950 originally on secondment from Rolls-Royce to manage the V16's supercharging, was promoted to chief development engineer in 1960 and given full executive authority in early 1962. Under Rudd the BRM V8 became genuinely competitive. During 1962 it produced around 185 bhp and powered Graham Hill to the World Drivers' Championship in the monocoque BRM P57. By 1965 the rated power had risen to 210 bhp at 11,000 rpm, with short-burst capacity of 220 bhp at 11,750 rpm for high-speed circuits.
The BRM V8 was sold to other teams and appeared in private Lotus and Brabham chassis, in the BRP works team, and in Tasman Series variants enlarged to between 1.9 and 2.1 litres. A one-litre Formula Two version was produced but was not successful in a formula dominated by Cosworth-Ford.
For the 3-litre formula from 1966, BRM rejected the V12 proposal from Berthon and Woods and instead built the H16 — two flat-eight engines derived from the 1.5-litre V8 placed one above the other, with crankshafts geared together. The concept was ingenious but the execution was troubled. The engine was heavy and unreliable; Rudd later claimed the castings were manufactured much thicker and heavier than his drawings specified. When Lotus took delivery of their first H16 unit, six men were required to carry it from the vehicle to the workshop. BRM earned the nickname "British Racing Misery" during this period.
The H16 achieved only one world championship victory: Jim Clark driving the Lotus 43 at the 1966 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. A redesigned version with narrow-angle four-valve heads and magnesium castings to reduce weight was planned but never raced, as BRM moved to the V12.
The V12 designed by Geoff Johnson, with dimensions of 74.61 x 57.15 mm, initially found its way into Formula One via the McLaren M5A before BRM used it themselves. Early versions produced around 360 bhp at 9,000 rpm in 1967, rising to 390 bhp at 9,750 rpm by 1968. A four-valve head upgrade eventually pushed output to 452 bhp at 10,500 rpm and a claimed 465 bhp by 1969. A 2.5-litre Tasman variant debuted at the 1968 Tasman Championship.
The V12 period brought BRM genuine competitive results again. Pedro Rodriguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. Jo Siffert and Peter Gethin won in 1971. The last championship victory came when Jean-Pierre Beltoise drove a stunning race in wet conditions to win the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix. Both Siffert and Rodriguez were killed before the 1972 season and the team endured subsequent instability under Louis Stanley's management.
After acquiring Marlboro sponsorship and initially planning to field up to six cars, the team was forced to cut back. Marlboro transferred its backing to McLaren for 1974. The last notable result was Beltoise's second place in the 1974 South African Grand Prix. The Owen Organisation ended support and the team continued at lower levels as Stanley-BRM until 1977, failing to find further competitive form.
The BRM V8 powered many private cars during the 1.5-litre formula. V12 units were sold to Cooper, John Wyer's sports car team, and McLaren. Matra collaborated with BRM on V12 design before French government funding requirements forced Matra to distance itself and restart development with domestic partners, though similarities to the finished Matra V12 remained evident. BRM also did contracted engine development work for Ford and Chrysler road car engines, and the BRM-tuned version of the Lotus-Ford Twin Cam engine was popular in production sports cars. The company built seventeen Formula One victories across its lifetime, and its engineering legacy — particularly the development of the V16 and the H16 — represents some of the most technically ambitious and ultimately cautionary work in the sport's history.